Archive for the ‘Intellectual Property Law’ Category

CSI World Headquarters is headed for exciting times! Inauguration of the CSI World Headquarters Malaysian Chapter in Kuala Lumpur is on the 18th of November 2009.

Member of the CSI Board of Governors and Tommy Seah, Honorary Life President of the CSI Malaysia Chapter will take their oath of office. The Interim Executive Committee will also be present for the swearing-in ceremony as they take the oath of office.

A Step-by-Step Masterclass on Cyber Crime and Digital Forensics will be organized for the next day, 19th November 2009. Cyber crime clearly is one of the hottest issues in the world today. And that’s not going to change in the foreseeable future – if ever. There is tremendous value in acquiring skills in computer forensics investigations and computer fraud risk management.

What is a Certified System Investigator (CSI)

In most cases, a CSI World Headquarters Certified member is someone who is already a professional in their respective area of expertise. This same person would have completed a further program of study and practical trainings in examining systemic risks, passed the Uniform CSI World Headquarters Examinations and obtained high standard of professional work experience in the field. Due to the high standard of this certifying program, it is becoming a much sought after benchmark in the financial market. An alternative route is made possible for the busy executive at the CSI annual conference. Attending the relevant master classes with 80% attendance will give the suitably qualified participants the fast track in becoming a CSI. Full details are available on the CSI membership application form.
This is an industrial recognition that numerous CPAs, CFEs, CFAs, etc. seek to be certified.

The program enhances their ability to communicate with other professionals in the area of:
1. Data and Digital Analysis
2. Fraud investigation
3. Financial Analysis

Enthusiastic internal and external auditors – and IT auditors – are using the knowledge from this certification program to bring value-added services to their clients and corporations.

Financial and IT institutions operate within global markets, where change and competitive pressures are constant. One key corporate strategy is to build up internal business competencies. Having people with the right competencies (the right knowledge, skills and attitude to perform specific job functions) who understand the markets and the operations, and can navigate through the intricacies of the market place is fundamental for financial institutions to ensure their long-term growth and success. CSI World Headquarters Certified members would be able to meet these requirements. Our objective is to increase the existing pool of competent industrial practitioners who can perform to international standards through a series of structured hands-on training programs.

Why become a CSI?

The knowledge needed to function effectively as a Professionals, Auditor, IT Specialists and Experts, Accountants, Financial executives, Fraud Investigators, etc. in all sectors continues to expand and change at a rapid rate. As a professional, you face increased knowledge and skill expectations, as well as unprecedented scrutiny.
Continued development of professional competence and lifelong learning are critical if the professional is to meet these expectations.

A case in point

The Financial Crisis towards the end of 2008 is a plain and simple case poor regulatory supervision failure in compliance and internal audit and mismanagement of the banks.
In order for Financial Institutions to hide as much in liabilities as they wanted, all these firms had to do was to create various types of special purpose entities (SPEs) in which they did not have a controlling interest. .In other words, if Bradley-Bingly and Lehman Brothers create a company in which they each take a 50% interest, neither company, technically, has a controlling interest.
Since the mortgage-backed securities that these companies created or bought were sold to investors, in many instances these SPEs were extremely lax in their underwriting standards. Subprime, Alt-A, interest only and adjustable mortgages with very low teaser rates were given to unqualified home buyers, then packaged and sold to unwary investors. Let the buyer beware. Meanwhile, these SPEs were sending profits up to their joint owners, and executives at these companies were making big bonuses based on spectacular reported earnings.

But as the orgy of lending got so out of hand that buyers of securitized mortgages began to balk, the plans went awry. The execs in big banks couldn’t stand to let the orgy end; so, they started guaranteeing the securities in order to get them sold. These guarantees eliminated their protection from the blowback of securities gone bad. Now the liabilities could end up on their balance sheets. Not surprisingly, many did.

That’s how we got here. That’s why investors will take hits in the hundreds of billions of dollars, and why taxpayers will pay in higher taxes or higher inflation or both. A few top executives will get fired, but they’re not giving back their bonus money, even though all the profits the bonuses were based on have evaporated along with billions of dollars of market capitalization.

YOU can stop this from happening again. Be a Certified System Investigator at our forthcoming Malaysia Chapter inauguration exercise.

I was invited by the Dean of Law Faculty of University of Malaya, Prof Abu Bakar Munir, to attend his recent public lecture entitled Data Protection Law: Too Little, Too Late on 4 August 2009.

Meeting Prof. Abu Bakar Munir(left) at the lecture.

Below is the power point slide presentation used by Prof Abu Bakar Munir during the lecture:

Synopsis of Lecture

After a long wait of more than a decade, on 17 June 2009, the Deputy Minister of the Information, Communication and Culture announced in Parliament that the Personal Data Protection Bill is to be presented for the first reading in October 2009. The Deputy Minister stated, “We are determined to get it done this year. This Act is vital in protecting our privacy and to safeguard personal information”. This law affects almost every individual and organization, public or private, as data is the ‘bread and butter’ of an organization. The law also gives certain rights to individuals whose data are collected. This talk provides an overview of the international data protection instruments. It discusses the approaches adopted by the different jurisdictions in protecting personal data. In conclusion, it elaborates on the salient features of a data protection law and its effects and impact on an organization.

Speaker’s Profile

Abu Bakar Munir is an internationally renowned scholar, expert and consultant on ICT Law and data protection. He is a Professor of Law and the former Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Malaya. He is the author of several books; Privatisation (1992), Cyberlaw: Policies and Challenges (1999), Privacy and Data Protection (2002), Internet Banking: Law and Practice (2004) and Information, Communication and Technology Law (2009) (in print). He has published articles widely on ICT Law, Air and Space Law and Nanotechnology Law. He speaks extensively at conferences around the globe including those organized by universities such as the Oxford, Cambridge and MIT.

Professor Abu Bakar Munir has been widely consulted by governments and private entities around the world. He was seconded as the IT Law Adviser and Principal Consultant to the Government of Dubai, UEA where he led an international team of consultants in developing and drafting several IT legislation to facilitate the Dubai Internet City, a multi-billion dollar IT project. He is currently the Adviser to the Government of Malaysia on data protection. Since 2007, he has been actively involved and instrumental in developing and drafting the above-mentioned Bill. He is also an Adviser to the Government of Indonesia and has recently completed drafting the Personal Data Protection Bill for the Republic.

He is a member of the United Nations ICT Policy and Internet Governance Working Group and a Council Member of the Asia Pacific Privacy Charter Council (APPCC). He is also an Expert to the Amicus Legal Consultants Ltd. London and an ICT Law Consultant to Dr. Colin Ong Legal Services, Brunei Darussalam. He is affiliated to many other organizations and is also a Visiting Professor at several universities, nationally and internationally.

This is the second in a four-part series published on 7 July 2003 in the Netv@lue2.0 pullout of The Edge, Malaysia’s leading Business & Investment Weekly.

Hidden treasure worth US$100 million discovered!

You might be wondering which lucky guy armed with a metal detector and shovel this headline is referring to. Actually, it is referring to The Dow Chemical Company, a Fortune 500 company.

In 1992, Dow Chemical conducted a “treasure hunt” which uncovered intellectual assets that eventually produced more than US$100 million in licensing revenues for the company. Furthermore, strategic decisions undertaken by the company’s management led to additional savings of more than US$50 million in taxes and fees.i

Buried Treasure

Many companies have treasure buried within the crevices of their business that are yet to be discovered. This buried treasure is the company’s intellectual property (IP) or intellectual assets, as it is often referred to today.

In Malaysia, there are five major categories of IP rights:

Trademarks/brands;

Copyright;

Patents/inventions;

Industrial designs; and

Trade secrets/confidential information

There are also other IP rights such as geographical indications and layout designs of integrated circuits.